Powhatan Man Sentenced to 15-Years In Prison for Production of Child Pornography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2012

(Richmond, Va.) – William Allen Richardson, age 40, of Powhatan County, Virginia, was sentenced today to 15 years’ imprisonment in U.S. District Court following a guilty plea to one count of production of child pornography. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia, made the announcement after Richardson was sentenced by United States District Judge Henry E. Hudson.

Richardson was indicted on September 6, 2011, by a federal grand jury and pled guilty on December 5, 2011. Richardson will also be placed on 10 years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment, and must register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.

According to court documents and information provided in open court, Powhatan sheriff deputies arrested Richardson in July 2010, after a minor relative and her minor friend both reported to the sheriff's office that Richardson and his 51-year-old friend, Ormand Dixon, had both had sex with each of the minor victims several times during a two-week period that month. Richardson took several photos of the sexual encounters on a digital camera and his cell phone. A subsequent forensic examination of his computer equipment, camera, and cell phones revealed numerous saved images of the minors engaged in sexual acts, which constitute child pornography. Forensic analysts recovered thousands of additional child pornographic images and videos downloaded from the Internet from dozens of seized DVDs. Richardson also pled guilty in 2011 in Powhatan Circuit Court to incest and indecent liberties for which he was sentenced to an active term of 2-years’ imprisonment.

This case was investigated by agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Powhatan Sheriff's Office. Special Assistant United States Attorney Gene Fishel of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.